( RichardRider )

Comments made by RichardRider

Not to worry. In California, we are well on the way to solving this problem. With luck, we'll drive most of the productive enterprises and individuals out of our misnamed "Golden State" (think "Hollywood departure" on a much broader scale). With fewer and fewer upper middle class to wealthy people in our Golden State, that will indeed narrow the income inequality "problem" dramatically.

One no-cost airport improvement would be to change the policy concerning drop-offs and pick-ups at the new terminal. Congestion in the pick-up area can be horrendous -- tickets issued, stress of angry drivers, fender benders, pollution from delays, wasted time, etc. EVERYONE dreads picking up at the terminals.

At the new terminal, in the evening when few flights are leaving and many are arriving, encourage drivers to pick up their arriving passengers at the DEPARTURE level. After 8-9 PM it's pretty much a ghost town up there, while the ARRIVAL area below often is a madhouse.

I presume that in the morning a similar situation exists for people dropping off passengers. But it takes far longer on average to find and pick up passengers than to drop 'em off.

This "wrong level" is a trick a few of us are aware of. I've used it to GREAT advantage for a couple years.

And every person who does this reduces the congestion at the other drive-by site -- a win-win. The airport could start this process by encouraging town cars, cabs and "Uber" drivers to divert during certain hours, using the "wrong" level to disgorge or pick up passengers. Cell phones make this a routine process.

Look at the last five years' data from the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District. In just about every pollutant category and across most of the county, the air quality has been CONSISTENTLY improving. http://www.sdapcd.org/info/reports/5-...

It’s great that 3 of the top 12 startup-friendly cities are (supposedly) based in California, with San Diego #1. But gee, that must mean the REST of California must be even worse than the studies indicate. The truth is, this "survey" is the most bogus nonsense I've seen in a legitimate publication. But in fairness, it's just the gonzo opinion of a columnist -- NOT the ranking by Forbes itself.

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60% of the "criteria" for this startup business survey uses truly bizarre data:

1. "Percentage of small businesses that accept credit cards."2. "Percentage of small businesses with Facebook pages and websites." 3. "Percentage of businesses with online reviews." http://www.forbes.com/sites/tompost/2...

Gosh, perhaps a more important factor to consider is the chances that a new startup will SURVIVE!

In 2012, our supply of California businesses shrunk 5.2%. In ONE year. NOTE: That’s a NET figure – 5.2% fewer businesses in CA in 2012 than were here in 2011. Indeed, in 2012, CA lost businesses at a 67.7% higher rate than the 2nd worst state!http://riderrants.blogspot.com/2013/0...

The Great San Diego Fast Food Strike is now done. Check the results of this much-ballyhooed event.

There was one well-orchestrated "picketing" protest in a city of 1.4 million people. But few fast food workers constituted the truly pathetic 100 person San Diego turnout.

It was the usual cabal of aging hippies, young college economic illiterates ("People Over Profits" -- when the increased cost would be passed through to the CUSTOMERS), SEIU labor members (NOT in the fast food business) and a handful of OFF-DUTY fast food workers (three claimed to actually be on strike, but likely were not).

Sadly, the press treated this as a major event. But it was DEFINITELY not a "strike."

There should be enough city council votes to override any mayoral veto at this point.

But the bigger problem is the threat of a bogus recall to short circuit a legitimate recall effort. A fake recall apparently can void a legit recall, as a failed effort blocks another attempt for 6 months, negating all the cost and signatures the legit effort provides.

While our job situation is DEFINITELY improving, the story neglects to detail what is the FAR bigger factor reducing our unemployment -- people are giving up looking for work.

But look at the numbers. The story is there.

According to this article, 3,100 net new April jobs dropped the unemployment rate a remarkable ,7% to 7.0%. Current county unemployment (after the new jobs were added) is 111,900. If 3,100 jobs reduces the county's unemployment .7%, then 31,000 new jobs would reduce the county unemployment to ZERO! But 111,900 minus 31,000 is a tad higher than zero.